A New Life

Whew! Thank goodness the frolics were finally behind us. It was pretty great even though, at times, I felt like there was a full load in my boxers! Mike had wanted me to sing on stage with him since we were ten and he finally got his wish. Prez wanted me to sing too and kept on working with me, helping me through five months worth of rehearsals. Honestly, that was the best part.

He’s so cute!

On any given day, we’d be in our room with the stereo playing the songs we were working on. Prez would be playing his bass, usually without the amp, and I’d be singing. When I got tired or bored, I’d stand behind him, singing softly in his ear, swaying to the music, running my hands up his legs and around his buns. He’d whimper, giggle and say, "I can’t concentrate like this!" He must’ve known that was my intention but he’d finish the song before putting his bass down, turning around to face me and swallowing my tongue! Those one-on-one bedroom rehearsals are what helped me remember the songs and lyrics. It didn’t matter if we were working on ballads or hard rock, we’d almost always wind up making love in some manner – unless we were interrupted.

The list of interruptions was growing pathetically long! We were looking forward to summer and beginning to really feel the need to move out. For over half a year we had been living happily together and we both desperately wanted to know what it was like to live alone. For me, it would be a big change that I looked forward to immensely. The idea of us sharing an apartment felt incredibly good. It just wasn’t possible on our meager part time salaries. But summer was around the corner! No school meant we could be home alone while my folks worked and my brothers were out.

That Saturday night after the frolics, Jess left with her parents around half past midnight. Nelson of course followed them out the door. Mike’s mom and Derrick’s mom headed for home shortly thereafter. Drew was spending the night at Corey’s and John stayed with us in the living room until he fell asleep on the love seat.

That was the cue I needed to stop Mike from replaying the frolics videotape another time. I showed him and Derrick to the door then shook John awake.

Prez looked so tired, there were dark circles under his eyes.

Earlier, for twenty or so minutes Prez had gone to our room to be alone. He really missed his mom and wanted her to see us perform. There was nothing I could do but give him space to grieve. When Prez starts thinking of his mom, there’s not a whole heck of a lot I can do. If he wanted me there with him, he would tell me. But more often than not I would just wait and feel a little helpless. Neither of us enjoyed those sad moments remembering Mrs. O’Brian. The memories were still too close and it was difficult to forget her though. Derrick and I were pleasantly surprised when both Prez and Mike stepped out of the bedroom. I hoped that Mike and Prez could help each other. Other than yawning a lot, Prez was fine for the rest of the night, splitting his time between the ‘rents in the dining room and the rest of us in the living room.

While I went around turning off lights, Prez went to the bathroom. Rush waited for his master outside the door in the hallway, as if Prez might vanish again if he didn’t carefully watch. In the bedroom, I searched around for the sack with the Speedos but couldn’t find them. I heard the toilet flush and started to get undressed. Waiting in my boxers, I turned on the stereo. Prez still hadn’t come out of the bathroom. I wondered if he was thinking of his mom again or if maybe he had fallen asleep in there. For another minute or so I waited. Hearing no water running or any sound from the bathroom at all, I got up, crossed the hall and softly knocked on the door.

I whispered, "Prez?"

"Come in," Prez said from beyond the door.

Not knowing what to expect, I took a deep breath and slowly opened the door. Rush barreled past me into the bathroom.

There sat Prez, naked on the porcelain thrown, all his clothes lying on the floor in front of him, his hard cock pointing up.

I smiled and commented, "You suddenly look a lot more… awake."

"Guess what I found out tonight?" Prez asked cheerfully.

My mind was focused on his bone and the fun I could have with him. It took me a few seconds to reply. "I dunno," I said, "it looks like you found out that you like our bathroom a little too much!"

Prez chuckled and said, "Good guess but that’s not it." After a short pause, almost as an after thought, Prez said, "Since our first shower together, this room has always had a special place near my heart." Prez reached forward and patted the tub for me to sit down. My heart started racing. I gladly did as he wanted and Prez said, "D told me where the term ‘toidy’ came from."

So that’s what Prez and Derrick were whispering about in the kitchen earlier. I laughed and said, "Do I really want to know?"

Prez nodded and said, "At least so we can try it out for ourselves."

"Try what out?" I asked.

"Back when Mike and D first got together," Prez explained, "after a few nights they wanted to try intercourse. Mike kept saying no, not yet, that he needed something to make it really special. Of course, this confused and worried D. They had rubbers and lube so what else did they need? Then one night D came home from work, jumped the fence and, instead of the pool house, Mike led him into the house, directly to the bathroom."

Knowing Mike for so long, I chuckled, "He’s always been a little on the strange side."

"That’s not the strange part," Prez giggled. "So they strip and start making out. Mike starts whispering in D’s ear, teasing him and asking him if he wanted to do it, just driving D insane where he’d do anything for it. Once D was sufficiently revved up, Mike led him into the shower and whispered, ‘We need to be clean as a whistle, inside and out!’"

"Omigod!" I laughed. "What did they do?"

"All those days they waited, Mike wanted to get an enema bag from the pharmacy. They cleaned each other inside and out all right!" We both laughed then Prez continued, "Before they left the bathroom, Derrick sat on the bowl and pulled Mike over, sitting him down on his cock. D said that it was the best first time for both of them."

Prez was still hard and lazily stroking his bone. For a long few silent moments I watched him play with himself. It was obvious that Prez expected me to come looking for him and wanted to make love on the toidy. Standing up, I then opened the door and Rush ran out. Quickly, I closed and locked the door then dropped my boxers and carefully stepped over, straddling my lover. Reaching back with a palm full of spit, I lubed my hole then guided his hardness inside me and slowly lowered myself down. Once we were situated and comfortable I whispered, "Is this what you wanted us to try?"

Prez gulped and breathlessly answered, "Uh huh." For the next few minutes I rode his cock, testing our endurance and the strength of the toilet. Prez leaned back and began stroking my cock. It may not have been our first time but it was awesome! I went off like a rocket. My legs tried to extend but the rest of me fought the urge and squatted down, jamming his hardness deep inside me. Collapsing against him, I regained my breath and whispered, "I think I’ve acquired a new level of respect for the toidy."

As I raised myself off him, Prez chuckled, "Wait till I get an enema kit," then went to the sink to get cleaned up.

Never in my life had I experienced an enema. Picking up my boxers, I wondered silently if it would make intercourse feel any different. It would be a considerable effort just for cleanliness’ sake. The idea didn’t bother me at all though. Prez and I have followed each other into the bathroom on many occasions, most often to continue a conversation.

Let’s face it; the bathroom is a very intimate room! Of course, the right combination of spices in food also makes it a very humorous room!

"Wait till I get you in those Speedos!" I countered. "By the way, where are they?" I asked.

Prez leaned over and pulled the Nordstrum’s sack from the cabinet under the sink. He had hidden them on me, the rat! I grabbed and poked, chasing him into the bedroom and Rush barked at us! We both turned and shushed the dog before John woke up in a pissy mood. Getting caught again, stark naked teasing each other would have been a little embarrassing!

Taking the sack from Prez, I reached in then handed him the red Speedos.

He grinned evilly at me, took the Speedos and said, "Can’t get enough of red, huh?

Slowly I shook my head saying, "Never."

Prez put on the red Speedos and did a slow turn. His buns filled out the backside nicely and from the front I could see the outline of his equipment.

"Awesome!" I whispered.

"Try yours on." Prez said.

Bending to put them on, I noticed I was sporting another stiffie! I had just cum buckets and the sight of him alone got me hard again! I put the black Speedos on, adjusted myself and turned in place for him to see.

Prez whimpered then knelt down before me and began mouthing my cock through the fabric. For a while I let Prez work his magic. Then I stood him up and guided him to the bed. Prez sat on the corner of the bed and pulled me down on top of him. After a few minutes of dry humping, I took his Speedos off. Swiftly, I pushed mine off then returned to his open arms. He raised his legs, wrapped them around me and squeezed me tight as I ground myself on to him. My cock slid down under his balls and poked at his hole. Prez softly gasped, "Mmm… please Keith, do it. Fuck me babe," and lifted his butt higher. I continued to tease his hole with my thrusts. Prez started moaning and whimpering. He was burning up and if I didn’t hurry he’d cum. The lube was under the pillows by the headboard from the previous night, I remembered and crawled over Prez to retrieve it. As soon as my cock was near his face, he greedily swallowed me whole! I giggled and tried to return to my original position but Prez held on to my ass. Again I giggled then reached back and played with his nips. That was all I could reach! His hips continued to thrust into the air involuntarily while we continued to play with each other. Minutes later I could feel another huge load churning in my nads. Struggling, I freed myself from his grasp.

With a slurp, my cock fell from his mouth. "Are you close?" he whispered.

I got off the bed, went and stood between his legs and answered, "Uh huh, way close."

Lifting his legs, Prez said excitedly, "Cool. I want you to shoot inside me."

I didn’t say anything but lubed his hole and my erection. That slippery stuff almost finished me off! Thankfully, I squeezed the base just in time. We still hadn’t moved from the corner of the bed. I got into position and Prez rested his legs on my shoulders. I was lining up, just pressing the head of my cock against his hole when Prez gasped again.

Prez moaned, "Oh God! That feels so incredible!"

The soft pink flesh on the outside of the sphincter gets very sensitive.

"I know baby," I whispered and continued to rub my cockhead over his hole. It gave me a little time to chill so I wouldn’t cum too quickly.

Prez sighed contentedly then whispered, "Now Keith. Push in."

I started to slide my meat in. When I was in all the way Prez trembled then smiled at me. "It’s… so… good!" Prez mumbled. Reaching down, Prez pulled on the mattress, taking the extra millimeters I had to give. I pulled back, leaving just the first two inches of my cock inside him. Rolling my hips, my bone rubbed the sweet places for him then I pushed back in. Prez held onto me through another awesome shudder. I leaned down to kiss him then started slowly humping his hot hole. Resting one knee on the bed, I half stood, half kneeled and continued to make love to my baby. After only a few minutes Prez began chanting, "Cum inside me, please cum inside me."

What was amazing was that he didn’t pause between words! That really got me excited! I started banging into him, knocking the headboard against the wall in the process. Prez only wanted more.

John would have to get over it, I thought as I stood. Prez pulled on the mattress then grabbed both cheeks of my ass. "I’m close," I warned and started to stroke his meat as I thrust away. Rolling his head from side to side, Prez started moaning loudly. We were both getting really loud! The inevitable feeling soon washed over me. "Gonna fill you up baby," I groaned.

Prez sighed, "Yeah, please," and covered my hand with his, keeping the rhythm steady on his bone. His hole got so tight, practically milking the semen from my cock as I took those last few slower thrusts. Finally, I let it happen and pumped like crazy.

While I was dizzy and overjoyed with the release, Prez sighed and shot a huge load over his left shoulder on to the comforter! His hole loosened momentarily then tightened as he let another one rip. For the remainder of our orgasms, I tried to match my thrusts with his shots. It was fucking intense! I barely managed to gently lower myself down on top of him when we were done.

Drained of strength, Prez whispered, "I love you so much Keith."

"I know baby. I love you too." I replied.

He kissed my cheek and said, "That was one of our better sessions, in my opinion."

I giggled and replied, "Hell yeah. And you spoke! Almost completing a phrase without a single pause!"

"I did? What did I say?"

"You don’t remember?" I asked and he shook his head. I giggled and said, "You really wanted me to cum inside you."

"Oh. I always want that. I wish it would happen every time." He said.

"It happens often enough. I wish we could cum together like that every time."

"Wouldn’t that be great?" Prez asked enthusiastically.

"So great we wouldn’t ever leave the bedroom for the rest of the summer," I commented as we crawled over the covers and settled down in bed.

Prez started running his fingers through my pubes and told me, "On the last day of school we’re going to Sav-On."

"For an enema bag?" I sleepily asked.

"And for clippers, scissors and some Nair," he reminded.

Omigod! I totally forgot about that! What if it itches when the hair starts to grow back, I wondered. The idea did make for some interesting dreams though! Undeniably, I was looking forward to seeing Prez completely smooth even though I loved the way his pubes fanned out around his dick, the light dusting of red hairs on his arms and the thicker mop of hairs on his legs. I dreamt of us making love repeatedly, one moment feeling the tickle of his pubes against my butt then another moment hearing the smack of soft hairless flesh against my ass.

Sunday morning we woke up to the smell of bacon cooking. Even after the pizza and cake last night, I was starving! After the dreams, I was also incredibly horny! In my morning fog I saw my sexy lover and sighed. Prez and I rolled around on the bed for a while then Rush jumped up to play too! Needless to say, that put a damper on our fun but we still stayed in bed and wrestled with Rush for a short while, taking the opportunistic grab at each other now and then. Then Prez put on some shorts and let the dog out while I streaked across the hall to the bathroom. Soon enough, Prez joined me in the bathroom. We brushed our teeth, took our time showering then headed towards the dining room, briefly stopping to see what John was watching on TV.

"Hey bro," John said softly.

The Dodgers were playing the Mets. I asked, "What’s the score?"

"Three zip, Dodgers." John said then got up from the floor. He stepped up to Prez and me. "Can I ask a favor?"

"Sure," I said and Prez nodded.

"Take the headboard off the bed." John said with a sly grin.

"I’m sorry we woke you," Prez said.

John nodded and went to eat breakfast.

I turned to Prez and said, "We should’ve thought of that. It’s a better idea than pillows on the floor," then went to eat breakfast.

At the table, my dad asked, "Preston, have you looked at any of those statements from Fidelity Investments yet?"

"No," Prez replied.

Prez hadn’t looked at any of the investment statements. As far as he was concerned, it was just another reminder of his mom. My dad kept Prez informed. This was the first time he’d asked Prez to review stuff with him.

"I put another one on the pile Friday," my dad said. "I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. If you get the chance today, I’d like to review the dividend disbursements."

Prez nodded and said, "Right after breakfast?"

My dad said that would be fine.

Helping himself to more bacon and scrambled eggs, John nonchalantly said, "Dad, the seat on the toilet is loose again."

I almost gagged on my eggs! Wearing his best poker face, Prez turned, patted my back and offered to tighten the bolts down for my dad. After breakfast, Prez and I went to get a wrench and fixed the toidy, all the while joking about how the seat suddenly got loose! If my dad weren’t waiting for Prez, I would’ve stripped, sat on the toidy and pulled Prez over for the ride of his life!

A few minutes later we were sitting in my dad’s den. Prez brought all the statements and sat down next to my dad on the sofa. I busied myself at the PC and eavesdropped.

My dad started with the Fidelity account statements, showing Prez what each column meant. As they worked through the statements, my dad asked, "Are you seeing the pattern here?"

"Yeah, it looks like the stocks are consistently making money." Prez said happily.

"That’s right," my dad said. "And if you’ll look at your money market account statements here, you’ll see that there’s a bit more money in that account then we planned."

"Holy shit!" Prez yelled. "How’d that happen?"

My dad answered, "The stock market is doing well. Half your stock dividends get reinvested, the other half is getting deposited here."

"That’s half?" Prez exclaimed.

"That’s why I mentioned it. I think we could change that percentage of dividend disbursement, don’t you?"

I couldn’t take it any more. Turning around in the chair, I made it obvious that I had been listening. Prez looked over at me, smiling from ear to ear.

"I guess so!" Prez said.

"What would you say if there were only half of that value deposited into the money market account?" my dad asked.

Prez said, "It’s only been six months. That’s still around twenty thousand a year, isn’t it?" and my dad nodded. After a few moments, Prez said, "I could actually get by on half of that for now. The money will disappear quick enough when I start going to college."

Nodding, my dad softly said, "In another year you’ll have made another forty or fifty thousand, maybe more, depending on the market conditions."

Prez turned to my dad looking somewhat confused.

"What this all means is that you’re making money faster than you could possibly spend it. Even next year, with college expenses added on, you’ll still come out ahead, unless you’re planning on going to an Ivy League school."

Prez looked down at the statements then over to my dad and then at me in quick succession. Turning once more to my dad he said, "Let’s change the dividends so that ninety percent gets reinvested. The other ten percent can be deposited in the money market account."

My dad said, "I’ll call first thing in the morning. Sometime we’ll have to talk about your tax returns." Then he stood and left the den.

I watched Prez for a long few moments. He stood and I got up to follow him. We walked across the hall to our bedroom. The moment the door was closed, he wrapped his arms around me and held me close. He was shaking bad.

"What’s the matter baby?" I asked.

Prez sighed and softly said, "She was so smart, so good to me. Even now she does so much."

"She wanted to make sure that you could take care of yourself." I said.

After a short pause, he said, "We lived in an apartment but she made sure I had lots to fall back on. Almost every last cent that I’ve spent for the last eight months is back. Between the funeral, the truck and insurance I figure I spent about fifty thousand bucks. The balance of my combined accounts is near the five hundred thousand I started out with." Then he smiled at me with tears flowing down his cheeks and said, "We’re rich."

Pulling him to me, I hugged him tight as he started to weep. I didn’t have to ask him why he was crying. It was obvious to me. Prez was happy about his financial condition. He just wasn’t happy about the price he had to pay and he felt guilty.

"It’s all right Prez," I softly repeated in his ear. He soon stopped crying and grabbed a Kleenex to blow his nose. Then I said, "You’re being just as smart as your mom you know."

He nodded and said, "I could quit my job but I won’t. I think I could get by working only three or four nights a week this summer."

"Cool baby, then we’ll have extra time together."

"That’s the only reason why I’m thinking it. I’ll work whatever days you’re working. If they don’t like it at Black Angus then I might have to find another job."

"Whatever you want. I’ll be working four days a week. They want me to work weekends. It’s looking like Wednesday through Saturday right now."

"Weekends don’t matter during the summer," Prez said. "I’ll go for the same days then."

"Hmm. What could we do with three days off in a row?" I teased.

Prez smiled and leaned in to nibble on my ear. In between bites he said, "Fuck like bunnies?" Not surprisingly, Prez went for it right then and there.

I remember a time when we first met where I thought he would be shyer, sort of sexually conservative. There was no reason; I didn’t know him very well and it was just an inaccurate assumption on my part. Prez may not have jacked off as much as I did. And he never got caught until my brothers caught us going at it. But he is definitely not sexually conservative! He’ll do anything! And he’ll do it as many times as we can stand! And, more than I could’ve ever hoped for, my baby likes to have sex! He likes it top or bottom or any other way he might hear of! And he’s all mine!

Unfortunately, we couldn’t spend the day making love. Rush was getting spastic again and obviously needed a trip to the park. After we took care of that, we had book reports for our English class due the next morning. I finished typing up my report while Prez finished reading. Then he added the finishing touches to his report, completing the task just before dinner.

Drew and Corey were home, sitting at the table when Prez and I went to have dinner. Prez mentioned that he was thinking of spending some of his money on all of us, getting a few gifts to say thank you. Drew and John were right on that shit like flies! The ‘rents wouldn’t hear of it, of course. My mom suggested that he not jump too quickly, obviously sparking some memory Prez had, and my dad suggested that he reinvest some.

After dinner Drew and Corey were watching TV with us in our room. For some reason they were a bit hyper, constantly whacking each other across the chest then busting up in hysterics. I couldn’t hear the TV and during a commercial asked, "What’s with you dudes?"

Corey giggled and sat on the floor, leaning back against the bed, his arms across his chest.

"We’re just keeping the heart beating," Drew chuckled. Corey slapped Drew across the chest as Drew moved to sit beside him and Drew smacked him back.

"He says that I smacked him in his sleep last night." Corey laughed.

"You did!" Drew chuckled. Keeping his arms across his chest he turned to us and said, "I was sound asleep and the next thing I know, whack! He flung his arm across my chest! It scared the shit out of me!"

Prez and I cracked up and Corey rolled onto the floor in hysterics. Corey’s head popped up again; all grins and giggles. Prez laughed, "Keep him on his toes, Cor. I talk and walk in my sleep for Keith."

I smiled at Prez then turned to my brother and said, "I don’t know, all that slapping and whacking… all day long… it seems kinda kinky to me."

"Oh no!" Drew yelled and turned ten shades of red! Drew ignored Corey’s occasional whacks from then on. They were much quieter for the remainder of the movie. After Corey went home, Prez and I took the headboard off the bed. Of course we had to try it out, rolling around the bed some to prove it was quieter. It was but there was still some squeaking so we decided to get rid of the legs, laying everything directly on the floor. That did the trick.

While we cuddled in bed before falling asleep, I asked, "Are you really thinking of buying presents for us?"

Prez nodded and said, "There’s way more in that account than I need and you guys deserve it."

I thought for a few moments. He likes to be included, a part of the family and surrounded by his closest friends. Once upon a time he didn’t have that. As much as it would be nice to splurge, it really wasn’t necessary. Prez was already covering my prom tickets. Not that I felt like I had to hurry to pay him back, it just seemed like presents would be over compensating. I whispered, "Can I ask how much?"

He answered, "There’s over twenty grand in my money market account right now. Last month, after the truck and insurance, it seemed there was only about three thousand."

"You hadn’t balanced the statement between October and April. Bet ya there was more when you bought the truck."

"From the looks of things, quite a bit more." Prez said.

"Reinvest it," I suggested. "School’s gonna cost serious bucks. It would be nice to concentrate more on school than keeping food on the table."

Prez nodded and said, "Why won’t you let me get you something?"

I sighed then reminded him of the prom tickets, the monitor cabinet and the Speedos. "Those are things that are way cooler than anything extravagant you could get."

"If I did one extravagant thing, just for us, would it bother you?"

I thought carefully for a moment then said, "It depends. A summer long trip around the world would be way too much."

"Hmm… I hadn’t thought of that," Prez commented.

"Don’t you dare," I warned.

"And Mike’s birthday is a few days away… maybe a Les Paul or a Paul Reed Smith?" Prez rambled. I couldn’t see his face in the dark but could feel his heart racing, proof that he was teasing me.

I leaned over him and warned again, "Prez?"

"And you’re dad’s birthday is in July!" Prez said excitedly.

He never got to anyone else’s presents.

The next day at school, it was obvious that a lot of people went to the frolics. There were a lot more kids suddenly greeting me in the halls. At lunch, it seemed that half the class stopped by at one point or another. Jessy, Nelson, Sharon, Julie, Maria and Cathy were there the whole time. Will, our class president, came over with another guy and a girl tagging along beside him.

Standing just behind Maria and Cathy, Will said, "Hey dudes, I’d like you to meet Zach Wright and Alex Jones." The guy and girl standing beside Will waved and said hello. Will continued, "Zach’s our class vice president and Alex is our class treasurer. We were just doing some brainstorming."

"This years senior class is paying two hundred and fifty dollars per couple for their prom." Zach said.

Surprised, Julie said, "That much?" and all three of them nodded.

Picking up were Zach left off, Alex said, "Our class is in desperate need of additional funds or we’ll be paying at least that much next year."

"That would suck," Derrick commented.

"That’s exactly what we thought," Will said.

Zach said, "Between class rings, the yearbook, the prom and graduation gowns we could all be looking at spending several hundred bucks each."

"Unless we find a way to build up our account to lower some costs." Alex said.

"That’s where you dudes come in," Will said with a wide smile.

"This year the seniors only had the Homecoming dance and the spring mixer to raise money." Zach said. "If we could have a few more dances, that would be a great start to raising our account balance." Though Zach’s head turned to see everyone at the tables, I felt he was looking more at me. He was standing really close to Alex though so I dismissed it as my imagination.

Mike and Derrick were ecstatic. Jessy and Nelson also appeared pleased but at least they weren’t spazzin’ out. Beside me smiling, Prez whispered, "It’s your call."

"We could do two or three shows for dances, I suppose." I said to Will, purposefully ignoring Zach’s non-stop gaze in my direction.

Turning to me, Mike asked, "Why only two or three?"

"Because other things take priority, like graduating!" I said sarcastically. That was only the tip of the iceberg though and Prez knew it. I could tell he was more than happy with my suggestion.

"Two or three would be great," Zach said enthusiastically.

"We do have other fund raising activities planned," Alex said. "The dances are sure money makers though."

The bell rang and I followed Prez to dump out my trash. Mike and Derrick were still talking with Will. Alex walked along beside Prez and Zach was beside me.

"You dudes were really good at the frolics," Zach commented.

"Thanks," I said, "for a few months we were jamming for the hell of it. Then my little brother asked us to play at his birthday and Mike signed us up for the frolics."

Zach asked, "You’ve got a little brother?"

I nodded and said, "Two, Drew and John. John’s the youngest. We played at his party last weekend."

For a few moments, Zach appeared thoughtful. He then said, "I noticed everyone waited for you to say whether the dances were cool or not." We stepped out into the hall then he asked, "Are you like the band’s leader?"

I had to laugh! "No, I’m the one with the worst case of stage fright."

Zach chuckled and said, "We’ll get together again tomorrow and make plans for the dances."

"Cool. See you tomorrow," I said. Zach and Alex took off in one direction while Prez and I headed the opposite way.

"That was totally unexpected," I commented.

Prez only nodded and hummed in the affirmative.

I expected him to say a lot more than that. My next class was upstairs though and I needed to get my butt in gear or I’d be late. "I’ll see you later," I said. Prez didn’t respond at all. All during my next class I wondered what was going through Prez’s mind. Was he thinking about his mom again? Or maybe he was just preoccupied with some school assignment? Whatever it was, if he still wasn’t talking by the time we got home, I’d have to drag it out of him. Thankfully, it never came to that and I all but completely forgot his preoccupation.

At school Tuesday we made tentative plans for three dances - one at the start of the school year, another during the holiday season and the other sometime between February and June. When we got home our SAT scores were waiting for us in the mailbox. I totally expected Prez to have a much higher score than me. In fact, I honestly thought that I’d be lucky to get a score any college would be interested in. Tearing into the envelopes and finally seeing my scores shocked me.

"What did you get?" Prez asked.

"It must be miscalculated," I said softly. Prez continued to smile at me until I finally read, "five hundred and twenty math, six hundred and fifty verbal."

"That’s good enough!" Prez said happily.

"What did you get?" I asked.

Prez answered proudly, "Six hundred and thirty math, five hundred and eighty verbal."

"We always knew you were better at math," I said as we headed for our bedroom.

"And I always knew you had a good vocabulary, especially when you start taking tangents!" Prez giggled and turned around to take the dog out.

Sitting on the corner of the bed, I read and re-read the scores. With the exception of this school year, all my life I just skated on by with minimal effort. Before taking the test, Prez and I only spent a few nights looking over one of those SAT workbooks. My folks would definitely be pleased. I’m sure they weren’t planning on me going to college. Certainly, I wasn’t planning on it! I only took the test because Prez wanted me to, never expecting to get a score that any college would care about. Suddenly, it looked as if I would not only be following Prez, I might actually have a good shot at a degree myself. What a dilemma for a classic underachiever like me! Now I had to start thinking about what I might want to major in. I didn’t have a clue!

Prez returned to the room and asked, "Aren’t you going to work?"

I totally forgot! "Oh shit!" I yelled and quickly changed into my Blockbuster polo shirt while Prez giggled at me. I kissed his cheek, said goodbye and raced out the door. On the way to work I wondered how I could’ve gotten those scores since I couldn’t remember that I needed to earn a paycheck!

That night I waited for Prez to come home and we showed my parents the SAT scores. My dad was pleased but my mom was ecstatic!

"Haven’t I always told you that you could do it?" my mom asked. "Imagine if you had applied yourself a little more."

It was a nice compliment and I took it that way but later, while Prez and I were getting ready for bed I wondered out loud if my mom was a little disappointed.

Prez made a crooked smirk and said, "I’d doubt that. She seemed plenty happy to me. So what if it wasn’t better, it’s good enough. My score might’ve been better if I hadn’t spent so much time playing my bass and learning music theory. There’s more to life than school and grades. All I know is that next year; we’re going to college. And we’re going to live alone, in an apartment, not some skimpy little dorm room."

Prez took his pants off and walked past me in his boxers. The briefs he used to wear never bothered me. In fact, I loved them! Through the thin white cotton I could see enough of his dick to tell how aroused he was. But there were advantages to him wearing boxers. First, his dick poked out of the fly most of the time, whether he was limp or getting hard. Secondly, he was more comfortable. Finally, from the heat of the Black Angus kitchen he was getting a sweat rash high on his thighs, by his crotch. It didn’t itch or anything, it just looked nasty. As the weather got warmer that rash was sure to get redder. Switching to boxers cleared up the rash in no time. I grabbed him around the waist and started slow dancing without any music. He smiled and sighed then rested his head on my shoulder.

"Having our own place is gonna be great," I whispered. "No more worrying about who made too much noise or wasn’t paying attention to who was home at the time."

"We need to learn how to cook a little better. Otherwise we’ll be eating out a lot or burning the kitchen up." Prez giggled.

"Have you thought about where? Not which school but which state?"

"I’d rather not leave California. I want to be close to home but not so close that everybody keeps visiting."

"Like Santa Barbara?"

"Yeah, UCSB would be cool. But I don’t know if they have a decent music program there."

"What do you think I should major in?"

"You like movies, why not study that?"

"I couldn’t be an actor."

"Maybe not but you could use those verbal skills writing screenplays," Prez suggested.

It was a good idea and I let him know how much I liked it.

The next day we told Mike and Derrick about our SAT scores. They were happy for us but I could tell Mike wasn’t looking forward to any changes. At lunch we talked about our plans some more. Sharon and Julie joined in. Sharon had done incredibly well on the SAT’s. Both her math and verbal scores were in the seven hundreds! She wanted to be a doctor and was well on her way.

Off to the side Cathy and Maria were holding a private conversation, whispering back and forth. Just before the end of lunch Maria stormed off, leaving Cathy behind and visibly upset. She wouldn’t say what was wrong but left the cafeteria with Sharon, Jessy and Julie talking to her.

Later that afternoon, while we were jamming, we learned from Jessy what was going on during lunch.

Maria is Mexican-American and her family is Catholic. They don’t know she’s a lesbian. Her family wants to meet the boy she’s going to the prom with.

Naturally, this was a major problem, not only for Cathy and Maria but also for the rest of us.

"There’s only one way to deal with this," Jessy said. Glancing at each of the four of us dudes in turn she said, "One of you will have to take her out this weekend."

Mike forced a loud laugh and started chanting, "Nope, ain’t gonna do it."

I almost fell over laughing at him.

"One of us should take her out," Derrick repeated.

"Any volunteers?" Jessy asked and waited. Not one of us said a word. Exasperated, Jessy sighed and yelled, "You dudes are soooo…. GAY!" We each turned to her completely amazed and started laughing. "Draw straws or something! If you don’t take care of this soon then you’ll wind up going to the prom alone!"

Mike turned to Derrick and whined, "Please don’t make me. I’d have nothing to say. I wouldn’t know how to act. If her dad said a single word to me I’d have to change clothes!" The more Mike ranted the louder my laughter became. Jessy wasn’t laughing though; she was barely smiling.

"How about if we make it a double date?" Prez suggested. "That way the only effort is in front of Maria’s parents. She still gets to spend the night with Cathy and we’ll be all set too."

"Finally!" Jessy spat out.

"Sounds ok to me," Derrick said. I agreed and moments later, Mike reluctantly nodded. Prez went into the house to find some straws. Derrick softly said to Mike, "Don’t worry dude. If either of us draws the short straw then I’ll go in and meet her folks."

"And Mike will wait in the car… alone… with Cathy!" I teased then softly sang, "Cathy and Mikey sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

Mike hissed at me, "Shut the fuck up dude!"

I made a surprised face and struggled to hide my grin. Prez returned to the garage with a fist full of pencils and gave them to Jessy. Mike drew first and it was a long pencil. Next, I drew a long pencil. Prez and Derrick stepped up.

"Go for it dude," Derrick said.

Prez snickered and said, "Age before beauty."

"You’re a beauty alright," Derrick said sarcastically and reached to draw. It was a long pencil.

"Damn," Prez whispered. Then he turned to Jessy and asked, "How should I do this?"

"Tell them the truth," Jessy said. "I told you dudes and you took care of the rest – but not without a little poking and prodding."

Now the joke was on me! For the next two days I would have to keep Prez from getting nervous and freaking out. I had gone on one date when I was still trying to prove to myself that I wasn’t gay. That was almost two years ago. It was a nerve-racking experience. But Prez had never gone out on a date. It was a good thing he mentioned double dating to try to calm Mike’s fears. The fact that I would be waiting in the car was the only thing that would keep him from freaking out. I offered to go in and meet Maria’s folks if he got too nervous. After that migraine headache last week, I didn’t want to see him get sick again. Not for something as petty as a faked date with a lesbian girl anyway.

During dinner, we didn’t mention Maria’s predicament or that Prez was going to help her get to the prom. The ‘rents would not have thought too highly of a plan to deceive the girl’s parents. Not that they would’ve interfered in any way but they’d find things to say so that we helped Maria to tell them the truth.

Prez started pacing the house after dinner. After two trips out of the bedroom and back again I went over and sat on his lap.

"What are you doing?" Prez giggled.

With a soft smile I said, "Holding you still."

After a long pause, Prez finally asked, "How should I tell her?"

"Make it short and sweet, like only you can."

Prez thought for a moment then said, "No details… okay, how about this? Maria, we know about the problem you’re having and we want to help. If you want, you can introduce me as your boyfriend."

"Perfect!" I said.

Prez stood up, almost knocking me over and said, "That’s no where near perfect! It may do the job but… I don’t know; it’s not right somehow."

"What you said is just as good as anything else. She’s got to decide when to tell her folks."

"I need to fit in the double date part," Prez said softly. He turned on the stereo then sat on the bed and leaned against the wall . "Ya know this is just the sort of thing we’ll be dealing with in our GSA club." Prez commented.

I nodded and said, "She’s got to decide when it’s cool." Then I asked, "When you decided what did you think of?"

"I thought of how she would take it. In my heart I guess I knew it would be okay but my mind kept asking about worse case scenarios. Like what if she totally hated me for it and threw me out of the house. I figured I’d just have to stay here for a few days and work things out with her over the phone. She’d never have done that but still I asked the question and had an answer." Prez explained. He then asked, "What did you think of when you decided?"

"You know my folks. Believe it or not, it still took me a few months to decide. I thought about where I would sleep and eat too though. It would’ve been at Mike’s."

"I wonder if Maria has thought of this stuff." Prez said. "Maybe things are really rough for both her and Cathy. What if she has no place to stay?"

"Then she can’t tell them, not for a long while until she can support herself."

"Maybe that’s what’s wrong; I don’t know her situation well enough and I don’t know for sure that there’s a need." Prez sat quietly for a few seconds then shook his head no and chuckled, "How totally selfish is that!"

I laughed, "What ever Prez," then said, "You have a right to know. Whether she’ll see it that way or not, we don’t know."

"I don’t want to make her angry. One wrong statement and it’ll be only the four of us in a big limo."

"You’ll do it at lunch tomorrow?"

Prez nodded and said, "I guess." Then he got up and wandered out of the bedroom again with Rush right on his heels!

A minute or two later there was a knock on the door. Before I said a word, Drew opened the door. "What’s with Prez bro?" Drew asked.

"If I tell you then you can’t tell the ‘rents," I warned.

Loudly, Drew said, "They already know some thing’s up. He smiles, sits down on the love seat, sighs or grunts a few times, then he goes into the kitchen and looks around the fridge and cabinets…" Drew took a deep breath and continued, "then he goes out to the garage! He’s out of control!"

Shit. I couldn’t tell Drew or my folks and had to go get Prez and tie his ass down!

"Where is he now?" I asked.

Drew shrugged his shoulders and started to leave.

"Wait!" I yelled then said, "Come with me. If mom sees us leading Prez back to our room all smiles then she’ll know it’s cool and not like he’s having a breakdown or some shit."

Drew nodded and, as we walked towards the door, he asked, "You’ll tell me what’s going on?"

"Sure."

"Are you sure he’s not flippin’ out?" Drew whispered.

Just above a breath I answered, "He’s got to do something he doesn’t want to do," then we walked into the living room and smiled widely at my parents.

My dad smiled and said, "He’s out back with the dog."

I nodded and went to retrieve Prez.

Drew and I stepped outside to find Prez playing fetch with Rush. The dog was getting a week’s worth of exercise in one night and loving it!

"I thought I’d better just stay outside for a while," Prez said and tossed the ball for Rush.

"It’s too late dude," Drew said.

"Damn. Do they know?" Prez said.

I said, "Nope."

Rush returned and showed the ball to Drew and me then dropped it in front of Prez. "Just as well I suppose," he said.

Again I offered, "I’ll do it Prez."

Prez looked at me briefly then took the ball from Rush and tossed it again. "I’ve got to at least try and do this," he said.

"Do what?" Drew asked.

Prez softly answered, "I’ve got to ask a girl out on a date, her parents don’t know that she’s got a girlfriend."

After a few seconds, Drew said, "Umm… so what’s the problem?" Prez and I looked at Drew a little surprised. "You’re covering for her just like she was originally going to cover for you," Drew said casually. "It don’t seem too horrible to me."

Prez sighed then said, "It’s horrible because she obviously can’t tell her parents that she’s a lesbian. It may even be that her girlfriend’s parents aren’t cool with it either." Rush came back and showed the ball to Drew and me, proud that he had found it. Then he dropped the ball in front of Prez again. Drew reached to get the ball. Rush quickly picked it up again and galloped around the yard.

Prez started ranting, "The way people treat sex and relationships confuses the shit out of me! It’s a wonder that there’s any human species at all. We can’t talk about sex; we just lock ourselves away and go for it. That means we’re all the results of thousands of year’s worth of accidents!" He briefly paused then softly said; "I just don’t understand it." Turning to Drew he said, "Are you surprised that I’m having sex with your brother?"

Caught off guard, Drew blushed and said, "Not really, I guess. Last summer I was. I don’t know why it surprised me." Then Drew smiled at me, turned to Prez and continued, "Since you’re with Keith, it was bound to happen."

I cracked up laughing!

"Keith never made me do anything," Prez chuckled. "It was mutual, something we both wanted."

I turned to Prez and said, "Thank you," then tore into my brother. "You always think I’m some kind of sex maniac!"

Drew giggled, "You are!"

"I am not!" I laughed, then turned to Prez and asked, "I’m not a sex maniac, am I?"

Prez smiled, reached down and tossed the ball then said, "Lately I’m wondering if we both are. Maybe we all are, everyone on the planet that’s hit puberty. Not that it’s a bad thing. It is spring time after all."

We all chuckled then Drew said, "I thought it was only me."

"Thought what was only you?" I asked.

Drew blushed then sighed and said, "It’s weird. Last year I don’t remember getting so many stiffies at school. It happens a couple of times a day now."

"Same thing happened to me. That’s why I was spanking it so much." I admitted.

Drew softly said, "It used to be once a day was enough, usually right before bed."

Prez said, "It seems the desire just keeps building. They say that men reach their sexual prime around eighteen."

"Wow," Drew said softly. "Imagine what it’ll be like. The damned things will be hard almost all day!"

That didn’t sound bad to me. Of course, I’d be lightheaded and tripping all over myself. It might force me to stay in bed for extended periods of time! I reached for Prez’s hand. He smiled affectionately at me and our eyes locked. Those deep blue pools captivated me. I could feel the tension drain from my body. Suddenly, I was so relaxed I couldn’t care less about Maria’s problem or my folks finding out what we were planning. Everything I ever wanted stood before me, gazing deep into my heart and squeezing my hand.

His gaze never faltered but he said, "Drew, what time is it?"

Drew giggled then said, "Almost nine I guess."

"Are you ready to go inside and kick back?" I asked.

Prez nodded, smiled and said, "Can you keep me occupied so I don’t start wandering around again?"

"I think I can manage that," I whispered.

Drew giggled, turned and walked into the house. Prez called Rush then we went inside too. The dog went straight for his water bowl and lapped up all that was there. Then he turned to Prez as if to say, "More please."

Shaking his head, Prez picked up the bowl and said, "No more tonight." Then we went back to our room.

For the remainder of the night we talked about the prom. We were starting to sound like a broken record, telling each other what we thought it would be like. At school, since the fight, a few derelicts passed an unfriendly comment or two. It was easy to shrug them off, for the most part. At the prom, we would be coming out to almost the entire class. There would be no more guessing. Everyone at the prom would know, without a doubt, that we’re gay. The week following the prom we would be finishing final exams. That would be an indicator of how our senior year would be and how the GSA would go over. The added side issue of Maria and her parents only gave us more to think and talk about.

On the way to school the next day we talked with Mike and Derrick about it. Prez brought up the GSA and we all talked about our coming out process. Mike also had printed a sample GSA poster that he showed us before we ran into the building.

At lunch, Maria and Cathy didn’t sit with the rest of us. Prez and I told Sharon and Julie about our plan. They thought it was a great idea and pointed across the room so we could go talk with them.

I went with Prez. After all the pacing and worrying he did, I was surprised that he was so calm. But I know Prez. There was no doubt in my mind that he was still worried. There was a job to be done though and he was determined to give it his best shot. Cathy and Maria noticed us walking towards them. Prez stepped up to their table and cheerfully asked, "Would you like some company?" Both girls nodded and we sat down.

"You could’ve joined the rest of us, ya know," I said.

Cathy said, "We know. There was something we needed to talk about privately."

"Something to do with the prom?" Prez asked. The two girls looked at each other then turned back to us and nodded. "Can we help?" Prez asked.

Almost at the same time, Cathy said, "Maybe," and Maria said, "Probably not."

Prez and I smiled at them.

"Does this concern parents, by any chance?" I asked.

Maria looked surprised but Cathy casually asked, "You heard?"

Prez nodded, turned to Maria and said, "If it would help, the four of us could go on a double date tomorrow night. You could introduce me as your boyfriend."

"You’d do that?" Maria softly asked.

I nodded and Prez said, "Sure. For whatever reason, it’s not cool for the two of you to come out. We understand. If you still want to go to the prom, we’ll help make that happen."

Maria smiled widely and said, "Thanks," then wiped her eyes with a paper napkin. I could only wonder what was so horrible that this little gesture brought tears to her eyes.

"We’ll pick you up tomorrow night at eight then?" Prez asked.

Cathy said, "Sounds good," then took out her notebook and started to write out directions. While we waited, Maria apologized, which we told her was totally unnecessary. Then Prez started telling them about when and why he came out. Hearing him describe our first days together got me so freakin’ hard! I could’ve dragged him out of school and done unspeakable things! Naturally, the bell had to ring, forcing me to stand up and walk with a stiffie! Prez followed me to my locker, criticizing himself for making a big deal about nothing.

I tried to avoid his eyes, honest I did. But I caught him smiling and told him how much I loved hearing his description of our first days together. For a few moments, we were both nervously looking around for a place we could be alone. The location was all wrong! There was nowhere nearby. The closest boy’s room would guarantee detention for being late to class.

With a sigh, Prez said, "I’ll see you later."

"Whether you’re there or not," I added.

Prez whimpered, then smiled and went his way.

During the walk to my next class, I mumbled and cursed under my breath. In more ways than I could count, going to school severely cramps my style! Damned homophobes! If only I could give him a real quick kiss in the hallways without worrying about it. I counted the remaining days until summer vacation in my mind. Fifteen days couldn’t go by fast enough as far as I was concerned. For the rest of the school day, I reminded myself that we had a three-day weekend coming up.

Later that afternoon, Mike and Derrick came over to hang out. I greeted them at the door and led them to our room.

Noticing the change we made in the room, Derrick commented, "It looks like they finally broke the bed."

Mike chuckled as he walked over to the PC and Prez. He put his hands on Prez’s shoulders, leaned over and whispered something that made Prez bellow with laughter.

"No way!" Prez laughed loudly.

"Not even a little bit?" Mike asked.

Shaking his head, Prez said, "It’s strictly platonic."

Grinning insanely, Mike said, "Just checkin’ dude. Sometimes you’re just a little too butch."

I didn’t need to ask what was said. Knowing Mike, it had to be something crude about Maria and her effect on Prez’s dick! Mildly amused, Derrick and I smiled at each other and I shook my head in disbelief.

Prez stopped what he was doing, turned around smiling and said, "Me? Butch? Someday, if you’re lucky, you’ll find out just how butch I can be!"

Mike busted a gut laughing and Derrick giggled a little. I only smiled because I knew how butch my boyfriend could be. But I also knew that he had a huge heart and could be submissive just as easily. At least he could for me. I went over to Prez and wrapped my arms around him. Prez turned off the computer then stood and returned my affection with a hug and a kiss.

Mike stopped laughing and asked, "Would you order me to my knees?"

"Why would I have to?" Prez asked. He then said, "We all know what we want. Do I have to give you step-by-step instructions?"

Moving very close to Prez and me, Mike said, "What would you like me to do?"

Prez quickly glanced at Mike then Derrick and finally at me. Softly, he said, "We all need to talk more about it anyway."

I nodded and said, "Now’s as good a time as any."

Moving closer to the three of us, Derrick said, "You’re all making me nervous. Is there something really bizarre you’d like to try? I don’t do the small fury animal thing!" We giggled at Derrick’s remark.

Prez shook his head no and I said, "We’ve talked about it and think it would be a good thing if we all talked about together."

"We’ve talked about it too," Mike said.

"It was a weird thing to try and understand," Derrick added.

Prez sighed and said, "I’m not sure I understand it."

Derrick took Mike by the hand and sat down on the edge of the bed with him. "Its obvious dude," Derrick said, "there’s something we all feel for each other. It’s not just sexual either."

I sat down on the chair and sat Prez down on my lap.

"Definitely not," Prez said. "What’s confusing me is that we want to do it. You two seem to have everything that Keith and I have."

"We probably do," Mike agreed.

"I think about it this way," Derrick said, "I would never cheat. This way, we’re all together. Is it cheating when you kiss someone you truly care about right in front of your boyfriend?"

"Yeah, that’s it exactly!" I said happily. "Ever since I started seeing Prez, I never thought about sex with anyone else. I wouldn’t mind doing stuff but only if Prez is there and having fun, just like the three of us did last year."

"You didn’t know we were already a couple last year though," Mike giggled.

Frowning, I said, "If I had known, it would’ve been extremely uncool. I would’ve felt like the odd man out. Most likely, I would’ve left for home."

"The reason you didn’t know is because I wasn’t ready to tell you," Derrick admitted. "When Mike mentioned getting you to join us I was already buzzed and said, sure, what the hell! I always wanted to see what you had. Skinny dippin’ in the pool was great. The second joint relaxed me just enough to say okay to the rest." As he spoke, Derrick had been looking at all of us but then he stopped and smiled widely, looked at me and said, "If I haven’t said it before, you’ve got one fat fuckin’ bone dude."

I must’ve turned beet red! We all busted up laughing. Finally Derrick said, "Mike already knows everything I think about both of you. He’s told me what he thinks about too."

Prez thought for a few moments then said, "So it’s really not cheating at all, is it?"

"How could it be?" I asked. Prez responded with a smile and a tight hug.

We sat silently for a minute or two. Prez whispered in my ear, "We could find out once and for all if we can deal with this?"

I whispered back, "Kisses?" and Prez nodded. This would be the big test, I thought.

Mike giggled, "What are you two whispering about?"

Prez stood up and stepped in front of Mike. Prez turned to Derrick and said, "I’d like to kiss your boyfriend, if that’s alright? I figure if we can’t cope with that then everything else is a washout."

Standing right next to Prez, in front of Derrick, I asked Mike, "I want to kiss Derrick, is that cool?"

Mike and Derrick looked at each other with completely blank expressions. I guess we shocked them. Slowly, smiles spread across their faces. Unable to control myself, I started giggling. I was so nervous! It wasn’t what Mike or Derrick thought that stirred the butterflies in my stomach; it was what Prez thought, how he might react and how I might react to seeing him kiss someone else. Could we really express our love for someone else without having our relationship turn to shit? Over the next few hours and days, we would find out.

Grinning widely, Mike and Derrick stood to face us. It was so awkward! The four of us stood there grinning and giggling at each other for a few moments, not knowing how to proceed. We inched closer. Mike’s hand reached for Prez’s waist. It was the wrong side though and there was some fumbling as they discovered a way to stand closer to each other. Derrick’s hand gently rubbed my right shoulder. I moved closer and wrapped my right arm around his back, accidentally stepping on his foot in the process.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

Derrick grinned and said, "It’s alright." In his eyes though I saw much more. I saw the new kid that moved into the house behind Mike’s all those years ago. He was cute then. Now I was touching him in a way I had only fantasized about. I could smell cinnamon on his warm breath. Cautiously we stepped closer and hugged.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mike and Prez move closer.

"Thanks dude," Mike softly said then rested his head on my boyfriend’s shoulder.

Prez replied, "You’re welcome."

Derrick slid his face in front of me and before I knew it, we were kissing. It was a playful, "bet ya can’t catch my tongue" sort of kiss. My eyes were open just a bit and I could see Derrick’s eyes were completely shut. After a few seconds our lips separated. Still holding each other close, we looked over at Prez and Mike.

When Prez and I talked about getting together with Mike and Derrick, I honestly didn’t know how I would react. Surprisingly, I felt glad, almost joyful seeing my boyfriend and best friend holding each other and kissing. It was like my past and present had met.

Mike pulled back and started giggling at Prez.

Prez stepped back and gave me Mike’s hand. Then he walked around behind me and stepped close to Derrick. Once again we fumbled around. This time it was even more humorous though. Mike reached for me, forcefully pulling me close, giggling madly the whole time! He was trying to bend me backwards even though I was taller! I was almost in tears; I was laughing so hard! While kissing Derrick felt okay, kissing Mike felt more like play-acting.

Watching Prez and D was hysterical! They were like architects, telling each other where to put their feet, how to hold each other and finally explaining which way they would lean their heads before kissing. Mike and I laughed hysterically right until their lips met.

Seeing them kiss, my stomach flipped and my heart tried to beat through my ribs. I couldn’t believe my own reaction! I thought it would be more difficult to watch Prez kiss Mike. But it was when he kissed Derrick that freaked me out!

Finally, we swapped back to our normal partners. There was no fumbling or laughing. The kiss Prez gave me felt electric, making my skin crawl with gooseflesh. It was Olympic tongue wresting at its best! And a few feet away from us, Mike and Derrick tried to beat our record. Eventually, we broke it up and Prez turned on the stereo.

"That was… weird," Mike said as he sat on the floor.

Derrick sat behind him on the corner of the bed. "Definitely not what I expected at all," he commented.

Still uncertain of what had just happened, I sat down on the chair again.

Prez came over and kneeled on the floor in front of me saying, "Even though I know better, I still felt a little jealous."

I sighed and said, "Me too."

Derrick turned to Prez and said, "It was freaky watching you kiss Mike."

Prez looked at Mike and said, "It wasn’t really… how shall I say… comfortable, I guess."

Mike nodded and said; "It was kind of forced. I should’ve given you that kiss when I told you all that stuff last week." Then he looked back at Derrick and said, "It was just as weird watching you kiss Keith," Mike added.

"You’ve got no worries bro," I said to Mike a little too quickly. Then I turned to Derrick and said, "Not that it was a bad kiss or anything. I liked the cinnamon."

Derrick grinned and pulled a tin of Altoids breath fresheners out of his pocket.

I said, "I felt kind of happy seeing Mike and Prez but…"

Sounding very surprised, Derrick asked, "You’re jealous of me?"

"Not usually, but yeah," I said softly.

Appearing sad, Derrick softly said, "Dude, you know I wouldn’t."

"I do know that but it’s just the feeling I had seeing it, ya know?"

Prez reached back and started stroking my feet. Then he turned to look at me. I only had to look in his eyes to know it was an unrealistic fear. When he turned around again, Prez explained, "Maybe I make it more important than it really is but being an only child, I never had friends like this before. I certainly never got to do anything about it sexually. My biggest fear is that I’ll be the one to fuck up everything and then none of us would be able to look at each other."

"That’s not the way it’s gonna be dude," Derrick said. "We all have fantasies. You won’t ever be taking all the blame for something we all want to do."

"That’s right, why would we blame only you?" Mike asked.

Prez sat quietly and didn’t answer so I spoke for him.

"As far as I can tell, that’s part of being an only child. Prez takes on all the responsibility, like he’s still alone and the only one that can."

He turned back and looked at me rather oddly, like I had stated something he never considered before.

"We’ll just have to help the problem child get over his bad self!" Mike said sarcastically and Prez started chuckling.

"It seems I’ve heard something like that before," Derrick commented. Mike turned and beamed at Derrick. Back when Derrick had to leave his house and move in with Mike, Derrick took all the blame for everything wrong with his family. Only after the court hearing did Derrick start to pull his shit together again.

Mike turned around, tapped Prez on the foot and said, "What about the prom dude? If something totally fucked happens there, you better not believe that it would be all your fault."

Prez leaned back and said, "Probably not because I won’t be the one to start anything. But the prom was my idea so I might still take on more than my fair share."

"You’d better not!" Derrick said loudly.

"You’re not going to the prom alone baby," I said. "We all wanted to go but didn’t have the balls to say anything about it."

"That right," Mike said. "Lately, I’m freaking myself out all the damn time thinking of what may happen. But there’s no way we could know so I’m stressing over nothing real, just my over active imagination."

Considering my own worst fears, I said, "We’re all doing that I think."

"There’ll be teachers chaperoning," Derrick reminded, "nothing bad is going to happen. Maybe just more rude comments by the mentally challenged."

"I’d rather not even deal with that," Prez said.

Silently I wondered how we might be more prepared. Suddenly it dawned on me and I asked, "Is anyone interested in talking with Brian and Doug about it?"

"That would be good," Mike answered and Derrick nodded.

"I’ll give them a call later and set something up for Sunday," I suggested.

Prez started chuckling and said, "If anyone mentions spanking or anything else remotely kinky, I’m outta there!"

Mike cracked up laughing and tried to speak, "If anyone had seen those hand prints on your butt!"

I grinned and blushed a little. It wasn’t my intention to leave any marks! We just got carried away!

There was a knock at the door. Drew told us it was time for dinner.

"We did it again!" Mike said, thoroughly annoyed with himself.

"Mickey D’s?" Derrick suggested and offered Mike a hand.

Taking Derrick’s hand and standing, Mike frowned and said, "Blech!"

"How about Carl’s?" Derrick asked.

"Nah, how about KFC?" Mike suggested.

Confused, Prez and I watched and listened.

"What’s the deal?" I asked.

"We always wind up getting busy with something and forgetting to call home. The last time we missed dinner my mom pitched a fit," Mike explained.

Derrick added, "If we’re not home for dinner we have to feed ourselves."

"It’s getting kind of expensive too. It seems we miss at least three dinners a week." Mike said.

"You’re eating here," I said plainly.

"Dude, you haven’t even asked!" Derrick said.

"Then we’ll share," Prez said and we started towards the dining room.

While I talked with my mom, Mike and Derrick hung back in the living room, looking quite pathetic too! Mike apologized for being absent minded. We were having barbequed chicken but my mom told me to get some burgers out of the freezer and put them on the grill. I kissed her quickly on the cheek then Prez and I gathered some stuff from the fridge and we went outside.

Prez turned on the grill and dropped some burgers while I put the ketchup and other condiments on the patio table. Soon we were all sitting at the table waiting for the burgers to cook. Mike looked so pitiful I couldn’t help but chuckle.

"Don’t worry about it dude," I said.

"I hate time and time obviously hates me," Mike whined.

Grinning madly, Derrick loudly said, "It’s all Prez’s fault!"

"What? Why me?" Prez shouted.

"Who was it that started us all kissing and forgetting about the time?" Derrick asked with mock annoyance.

Prez giggled, "Heehee! Okay, I guess I caused this one. But I could swear some one said that no one was going to blame me for anything."

Derrick laughed hysterically. I didn’t think it was that funny though.

Mike sighed and said, "I was kind of hoping for a repeat of my last birthday this year."

"I figured you were, you horny fucker," I commented.

"I have something planned dude," Derrick said.

Mike perked up and said, "Oh yeah? Such as?"

"It’s a secret until your birthday," Derrick teased. Then he leaned over and started whispering in Prez’s ear. Prez started with his exaggerated expressions and comments about how much Mike was going to like this or that, driving Mike absolutely insane!

"Stop it! Both of you!" Mike shouted.

As much as I enjoyed seeing Mike squirm, I was trying to ignore the fact that Derrick and Prez were so close, physically and emotionally.

I couldn’t believe myself! For almost a year, I trusted Prez to work with Derrick, go to the beach with Derrick and jam with Derrick amongst a bunch of other things. Now, because of kiss that we planned, I was seeing things differently. I perceived a threat from someone that I knew very well.

Derrick is so laid back most of the time. But he is damn good looking. He didn’t even tell me he was gay, Mike told us that they were a couple! How could I even consider Derrick making moves on Prez? The unthinkable crossed my mind - What if Prez put some moves on Derrick?

Silently, I watched Prez interact with Mike and Derrick. My head ached and my stomach hurt. I told myself I was being irrational and stupid. But Prez wasn’t even paying attention to me! Not knowing what to say or do made it even worse. Sitting there with a fake grin wasn’t cutting it. I had to get away from them.

Softly, so I wouldn’t give away any emotion, I said, "Excuse me, I’ll be right back," then went inside. Since I wasn’t feeling that well, I walked past the dining room table, not even acknowledging my mom or dad, and went to the bathroom for some aspirin.

Splashing water on my face, I started to talk to myself in the bathroom mirror.

What the fuck is wrong with me? Do I trust Prez or don’t I? How could I love someone and not trust him? Just get a hold of your shit and pull it all together! When they kissed, they didn’t want to fumble around, they instructed each other and they both seemed to like it! Grrr! Why am I freaking out? We talked about this at great length, baring our souls to each other. I promised him a year ago I wouldn’t cheat on him and I haven’t! But he’s not cheating on me! Or is he? What is he doing now, while I stand here talking to myself? Laughing it up and having a grand ol’ time! Dammit Prez! Why aren’t you here? How can I tell you all this? I want to be cool; to let you have friends, to let you have a life of your own. But I want you dude. I want to talk with you, alone - right now!

Toweling off my face a little too harshly, I then flung open the bathroom door and headed back outside.

"Keith? Is everything alright?" my mom asked as I passed through the dining room.

"Fine," I said a little abruptly then opened the back door.

Prez was standing at the grill with his back to me. I stepped up beside him and he said, "You’re just in time, dinner’s ready."

Softly, so Derrick and Mike wouldn’t hear, I said, "I’m really not hungry."

Prez looked at me curiously then asked, "What’s wrong?"

I looked into his eyes then down to the ground, feeling worse than I did before getting up on stage and singing in front of all those people, shaking all over.

"Keith?"

Without looking up I said, "We have to talk."

"Sure babe," Prez said, "I’ll just serve these burgers and tell them we’ll be back." Then he walked away from me.

I heard Mike comment, "A quickie before dinner, with company?" and Derrick chuckled. Frankly, I didn’t give a fuck what either of them said or thought at that moment and started to walk back towards the house. "We’ll save you a burger," Mike said.

"Gee thanks," Prez said sarcastically.

My feet felt like two-ton weights. I opened the door and stumbled a little at the step into the house. At the table, I noticed my mom and dad looking at me oddly but disregarded them and walked through the dining room. When I got to the hallway, I wondered what was keeping Prez and turned around. It startled the shit of me when Prez came to an abrupt halt just before he walked right into me! From the living room, Drew and John laughed at us but I didn’t pay attention, turned around and made a beeline for our room.

Prez closed the door behind him and I turned around to face him. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Looking past him, like I did with the audiences, I sighed and said, "Tell me something Prez. Did you like kissing Derrick?"

He didn’t answer for the longest time. He took a step towards me. Without even thinking or consciously wanting to, I stepped back.

"Keith, please don’t…"

"Don’t what?" I interrupted, "Don’t ask questions I don’t want to hear the answers to?"

After a moments pause, Prez softly said, "Don’t think for a second that I would ever in a million years choose either of them over you."

"Why not?"

"Because I’m not in love with them."

I searched his eyes carefully. There didn’t seem to be any deception. I couldn’t believe the way I was treating him.

"If anyone got jealous, I honestly thought it would be me," Prez said.

"It freaked me out, a lot."

"Only Derrick or Mike too?"

"Only Derrick."

"I don’t want to live with him," Prez said and took a step closer. I didn’t back away. His voice was soft and low in pitch, almost mesmerizing.

"Did you like kissing him though?"

Prez sighed and said, "They were both completely different kinds of kisses. Didn’t you feel it? It was lips and tongue but the best part was missing. There wasn’t the same emotion behind it, not like when we kiss."

He was right. I nodded and stepped closer to him. "I’m really confused."

"So was I."

"It hurt, way down inside."

Prez nodded and said, "Remember the first time we went to the beach and the talk we had?"

Not knowing exactly which part of the conversation he meant, I shrugged my shoulders.

"We both said we were scared of being alone."

I nodded.

Prez reached for my hand and said, "That hasn’t changed for me. Remember the part about the misconceptions?"

I nodded and said; "They think we’re evil, telling us that we’re going to live a lonely life, moving from one sexual partner to another."

"We’re not lonely, we’re not sleeping around and we’re certainly far from evil. I won’t hurt you Keith."

"I know Prez. It was just… I don’t know… my imagination ran away from me."

"You love Mike but you’re not in love with him. Seeing the way he kissed you proved that!"

"It was the way you and D kissed."

"After fumbling around with Mike I just thought I’d verbalize so it wouldn’t be quite so awkward. The cinnamon was nice though," Prez said with a wide grin.

I smiled and said, "It was."

"Do you want to tell them to forget the whole thing?"

"No."

Prez blinked, "You don’t?"

"I want you to have some of the same experiences I’ve had, honest. Otherwise, it’s not fair at all. I just have to get past this jealousy."

Prez smiled and said, "No you don’t. I guess I want you to be jealous. Although I know how much it hurts and how it must make you feel, I’ve never been so flattered in my life."

"Well I don’t like this feeling at all. It’s like everything we’ve said and done didn’t matter at all. My mind just went off, imagining all sorts of shit."

"I know babe and I’m really sorry. As far as I’m concerned, we could call the whole thing off right now."

"Lets just wait before we say anything to them about it." Prez looked at me with questioning eyes so I explained, "I really want us to be equal. I want us to share everything there is to share. Right now though, I know it’s going to be tough looking at Derrick. I feel like I’ve done something here that’s contradicted everything I ever said to you. I need to work this out somehow. Am I making any sense at all?"

Prez nodded and said, "Perfect sense," then he stepped closer and wrapped his arms around me.

I sighed and all the stress drained out of my body. Silently, we held each other for a very long time. To be warm and safe in my lover’s arms was the reassuring feeling I needed. I felt like such a perfect jerk. But those feelings of jealousy just overpowered and enveloped me no matter how I tried to tell myself it was wrong.

There was a knock on the door. Prez said, "Come in," but never moved to let go of me. Busy coming to terms with the depth of my feelings I never even looked up.

My mom said, "Whatever was wrong before is better now?"

"It’s getting there," Prez answered.

"Did you forget you had guests?" my mom asked.

"No. There’s was something we had to take care of and it couldn’t wait." Prez explained.

My mom hummed suspiciously then said, "Did you tell them you’d be right back? They haven’t touched the burgers you made. They’re just sitting out there, holding hands and talking. It’s probably the cutest thing I’ve ever seen them do."

"Do you want to go outside?" Prez whispered to me.

Not really worried about Derrick and Mike or wanting to, I said, "I guess so," then looked up at my mom and said, "We’ll be right out."

She looked at me strangely, as if searching my face for some clue then walked away.

A few seconds later I stepped back from Prez and looked into his eyes. He seemed every bit as sad as I was. I kissed him gently, only brushing my tongue around his lips before I stepped back again.

He held both my hands and said, "For the next few days I intend to remind you just how much I care. We’ll go someplace alone on Sunday."

"That sounds really nice," I said. Then he let go of one hand and we walked back outside. I didn’t want to upset Derrick or Mike, so I was running through ideas of what I might say to them while we walked.

As soon as we stepped outside, they got up and met us. Derrick looked worn out and wore a fake grin. We were all wearing fake grins, myself included, it seemed. I realized that he really was a good friend and not someone I needed to worry about. But for some reason, I was worried anyway.

"How’s it goin’?" Prez asked cheerfully.

"Better," Derrick said. "How ‘bout you?"

"Same here," I answered.

"I’m sorry bro," Mike said.

Derrick added, "Me too."

I sighed and said, "No one needs to be sorry."

Mike scanned our faces and said, "It’s a good thing to talk and try things out but I’d just as soon let this drop, right here and now."

"How do you mean?" Prez asked.

Mike shrugged his shoulders and said, "I said all I need to say a long time ago. Before we go our separate ways, it would be good if we found a way to get together. But if it’s not fun then why even bother?"

Prez nodded and said, "I was thinking we could spend Sunday paired up separately."

"Sounds good," Derrick said. "We’ll see how things go and maybe get together Monday?"

Feeling like a total clod for causing so much upheaval, I smiled and said, "I’m starved, lets eat!"

"We already ate," Mike said.

Prez and I looked at the mound of burgers still on the table then back at our two friends.

"We weren’t too hungry, I guess." Derrick said.

Patting me on the shoulder, Mike said, "We’re gonna jet dudes. See ya in the morning."

Derrick reached for and shook Prez’s hand saying, "Thanks for dinner… and everything." Then they walked across the yard and into the house.

Prez and I sat down at the table. "I made eight burgers and they only ate two!" Prez complained.

"One may be all I can squeeze in too."

"Drew and John will handle the leftovers."

We stood there a moment; each lost in our own thoughts.

"Do you think they’re angry with me?"

"Actually," Prez observed, "it seemed to me like they had their own challenges to cope with."

Surprised, I looked at him curiously and said, "I didn’t notice."

"My perception isn’t exactly clear either."

"The burgers got cold."

Prez grimaced and picked up the plates saying, "Lets nuke ‘em."

Gathering up my plate and some condiments I asked, "What was the world like before microwaves?"

After we were done eating, Prez and I retreated to our room. We talked until two o’clock in the morning and there was school in the morning but we couldn’t stop once we started. There was a lot to say, mostly repeats and rewordings of things we’ve said before. However, this time it was with a new knowledge of the green monster inside me. The one saving grace is that we can and do talk to each other.

Thankfully, there were no unplanned issues sprouting out of thin air on Friday. We were half expecting one too. While we talked Thursday night we realized that Jessy hadn’t said anything about Rebecca all week.

Prez didn’t seem too worried about meeting Maria’s parents. I know Prez though. He was good at hiding his emotions when he had too. The determined look in his eyes told me this was one of those times. It seemed like he thought of our double date as a game, a leap across the sexuality line for everyone’s benefit. At lunch, he talked with Maria and they worked up a good story for her parents. Cathy and I played the part of Maria’s mom and dad so they could rehearse. We fooled around and laughed a lot.

Before the bell rang and we went our separate ways, Maria got serious. "I need to warn you about my parents," she said. "I never know how they might act. If we’re lucky, they won’t say much and we can leave undisturbed."

"And if we’re not lucky?" Prez asked.

Maria shrugged and said, "They’ll embarrass the hell out of us both."

Slightly concerned, I asked, "How do you mean?"

She sighed and said, "Let’s just say that they’re not the most accepting people on the planet."

Casually, Prez said, "Don’t worry about it, I can take those kinds of remarks."

I followed Prez to his locker and asked him how he was feeling.

"I just want to take a nap and get this over with," Prez said.

I was really over tired too and told him so before I raced to my next class.

That afternoon when we got home, Prez took care of Rush then came back to our room and got undressed. I had set the alarm and was already waiting for him under the covers, yawning up a storm. Seeing him in only boxers though had the usual effect. We hadn’t made love the previous night and I really wasn’t thinking of making love when I got in bed but things were really emotional for us. All the things I love about him came shining through in the last day. I was just too fucked up to do anything about it. Prez snuggled up close to me and closed his eyes. I held my baby and closed my eyes too. Exactly what happened, I don’t know. Maybe he felt my heart racing. The next thing I knew, we were grinding into each other, and reassuringly repeating old promises between kisses until we each lost it. Moments later, I was sound asleep.

I had the strangest dream! Given all the shit I was thinking and feeling, I guess I should’ve expected it. In the dream, I’d expect to wake up with Prez but it was Derrick lying next to me. Everywhere I went and every thing I tried to do with Prez wound up to be Derrick. Mike and Prez were nowhere in the dream. The alarm went off and I grumbled. Before we got out of bed I told Prez about the dream.

"What do you think it means?" Prez asked.

I shrugged and said, "I dunno. It sure seems like I’m obsessing a bit though!"

Prez asked, "You want to know what I think it means?" and I nodded. Prez said, "It could be that you feel like you need to keep an eye on him." He got out of bed and I followed him to the bathroom. After we brushed our teeth Prez said, "Maybe you need to spend more time with him alone, without me or Mike around. That’s the only way you’ll really learn that he’s not after me at all." Then we stepped into the shower.

I considered what he said. For the life of me, I couldn’t recall spending any time with Derrick without Mike showing up. Maybe Prez was right. I’d known Derrick for a few years but there was never an afternoon we spent alone. While it was a good idea, I wondered if it was too late since my little green monster had already escaped and caused havoc. After Prez shampooed his hair and rinsed, he looked at me and started giggling.

"You’re turning into a bubbly soap monster!" he laughed.

Looking down at myself I noticed I was indeed covered with suds from my neck to my crotch! I grinned and pulled my sexy boyfriend to me, sharing the overabundance of lather I created and getting a few good gropes in to boot! Prez snacked on my ear lobe while I washed his back. We finished up and rinsed off then went back to our room and got dressed for the hot date of the century!

Before we left the room to say goodbye, Prez snuggled up to me looking for a hug.

Taking him in my arms, I asked, "Nervous?"

He nodded and said, "Meeting Maria’s folks has me a little preoccupied."

"Lay that Texas charm on them and you’ll be set."

Prez frowned and said, "I’ll try to be nice but I won’t over-do it. I’ve already got in-laws. One set is more than sufficient."

Prez had on a nice a pair of jeans that weren’t too faded and one of my sport shirts. As usual, he looked awesome!

We went to say goodbye to my folks then hit the road. At the last minute, Prez decided he was too preoccupied to drive so we took my car. First we picked up Cathy. Just as I started to get out of the car, I noticed her at the doorway. There was also a face in a nearby window, probably her mother. Cathy ran to the car and surprised the hell out of me when she kissed my cheek! We went back to the car and she walked up to the passenger side front door.

"You need to get in the back," she said to Prez.

Prez quickly did what he was told. We both sort of forgot about appearances for a second there! Cathy and I got in the car. As we pulled away from the curb she said, "That was easy, wasn’t it?"

"Who was looking out the window?" I asked.

"My sister," she answered.

From the backseat, Prez exaggerated a cry, "Wah! We can’t hold hands like this!"

I laughed and reached back to give him my hand.

Cathy giggled then said, "You two have been together how long?"

"Almost a year," Prez answered.

"And you’re still holding hands?" she asked, sounding surprised.

"Course, every chance we get," I said.

"And it’s still not as often as we’d like, thanks to certain kinds of people," Prez said.

I went past Runnymede Park, turned on to Saticoy Street and pulled into Maria’s neighborhood. As I parked in front of Maria’s house, I said, "You ready Prez?"

"As ready as I’ll ever be," He replied.

Cathy said, "Just ignore any remarks please. Maria’s not exactly comfortable with this."

"I know the feeling," Prez said. Then he opened the door and stepped out of the back seat.

I watched Prez walk to the front door. He rang the bell and waited. In a few moments, a very large, heavyset man answered the door. Prez extended his hand to greet Maria’s father. The man didn’t shake Prez’s hand but stepped aside and Prez walked in the house. Just watching from the car made me nervous! I thought, if Mike had won the draw, he would’ve shit himself and passed out the minute the door opened! The thought made me giggle a little.

"What’s so funny?" Cathy asked.

"I was just thinking about Mike," I said, withholding the additional details.

Cathy sighed and said, "I don’t know how to ask this. Would you consider Prez a patient person?"

"Most definitely. Why do you ask?"

"If I know Maria’s father, one of the first words out of his mouth was gringo."

Cathy and I nervously looked at each other for a long few moments. "He would say that? Even under the assumption that Prez was his daughter’s boyfriend?" I asked.

Cathy only shrugged as if she was fairly certain something rude would be said.

My mind went into warp speed wondering if I should go to the house and rescue Prez. Then it occurred to me; maybe Maria’s family needs to be rescued from Prez! If he isn’t in the mood to hear those kinds of remarks, Prez has the uncanny ability to tell someone off with low tones and a smile on his face. Just as I was considering what was destined to become the second Mexican-American war, Maria and Prez walked out of the house. I watched as he led Maria to the car, opened the door for her, and then climbed in after her.

They were both quiet as I pulled away from the curb - too quiet. Cathy turned in her seat to look back. I kept looking in the rear view mirror while I drove. Prez let out an explosive sigh just as Maria broke the silence.

"Where are we going?" Maria asked.

"We didn’t have anyplace special in mind," Prez said.

"I thought we’d just go to the mall, maybe catch a movie," I added.

I stopped at the traffic light. As I pulled away, Cathy said, "Pull over please."

For a second I thought something was terribly wrong. "Huh? Why?" I asked.

"So I can get in the back seat," She replied.

At the next cross street, I turned and pulled up to the curb. Prez and Cathy got out and swapped seats. Prez buckled up then rested his hand on mine as I pulled away from the curb.

From the back seat I could barely make out Cathy and Maria whispering. I glanced over at Prez and he smiled widely. Obviously, he wasn’t too shaken up so I assumed nothing bad happened. Suddenly, Cathy laughed loudly from the backseat, "He did?"

I looked over at Prez again and he started giggling! Unable to control my curiosity, I loudly asked, "What happened?"

At first no one spoke. Finally I heard Maria say, "Then my mom told my dad to shut the fuck up! She should’ve done that a long time ago."

Cathy said, "Thanks Prez."

Prez giggled, "No problem. I’m just sorry it had to be done at all."

With only a vague idea of what transpired in the house, I turned to Prez and chuckled, "I can’t take you anywhere."

"You’ll just have to tie me to the bed," Prez said. And then he slid down in the seat, laughing his ass off!

I pulled into the mall parking lot and found a place close by the theaters to park. Cathy opened her door and said, "We’ll meet you back here around eleven."

"Cool," I replied. Then she and Maria got out of the car and walked towards the mall.

Smiling at Prez, I asked, "What happened?"

Prez unbuckled his seat belt saying, "He called me a fucking gringo when he opened the door and saw me."

Then we both got out of car and, as we headed towards the mall, Prez continued. "As I walked into the house I said something like, I’m sorry but it was Maria that wanted to go out with me so his opinion didn’t really matter much, unless he wanted to go out with me sometime. Then he started yelling at Maria in Spanish so I couldn’t really understand what was being said. Maria yelled back then her mom got into it with her dad. She pushed him down onto the couch then apologized to me and showed us to the door. Ya know what it reminded me of?"

"What?"

"My dad. A totally dysfunctional family, just like mine used to be. It wouldn’t be that way if the old man would just consider joining the human race instead of mocking subsets of it. Guess I wasn’t in the mood to hear that."

"Are you okay?"

Prez sighed and said, "I’m fine babe, it’s just the adrenaline rush, ya know?"

I nodded and took his hand. Once inside the mall, we headed for the food court.

"I’m really not into sitting still through a whole movie," Prez said as we rode the escalator.

"There’s nothing I really want to see," I admitted.

"Let’s just window shop," Prez said. Then he leaned in close to me and whispered, "Maybe I’ll find the perfect gift for you."

I chuckled and said, "You already gave me a good gift today."

"I did?"

I nodded and said, "I’ve been thinking about what you said earlier about Derrick and me." Prez searched my face for a moment and I continued. "Did you know we rarely ever spent any time alone together?" Prez shook his head. "I think maybe we should but I feel bad for getting so worked up yesterday. What do you think?"

Prez thought for a few moments while we waited in line at Sabbarro’s. Then he said, "Since we don’t know what they were talking about yesterday, it’s hard to tell. But if you want to spend some time with him, just let me know. It would give me and Mike some time alone too."

"So we should talk about it together first?"

"I think so but Mike said he’d rather just drop it."

"Maybe I’ll call Mike sometime tomorrow."

"Why not talk with Derrick?" Prez asked. Then he placed his order for baked ziti. I ordered two huge slices of thick crust pizza. We slid our trays along to the cashier and got two large Pepsi’s. Prez paid for both meals then slid his tray down further and sprinkled Parmesan, garlic and hot pepper over his food.

As we walked towards a table I started shaking my head and chuckling. He smiled widely at me and whispered, "I know what you’re thinking."

"You better not get stomach cramps and gas later," I warned.

Prez only grinned and blushed then dug into his food. Nearing the bottom of the bowl, Prez said, "You’re awful quiet."

I smiled and belched loudly.

Prez laughed and said, "That’s better but not exactly what I meant!"

I looked down at the pieces of pizza crust in my plate and said, "I’m just thinking."

Softly, Prez said, "Let it go, Keith. I’m sure not angry with you. I’d bet that Mike and Derrick aren’t either."

"I wish you were more angry with me," I admitted. "What I did was fucked up to say the least."

Prez hummed thoughtfully and stood to dump his trash. He grinned evilly while I stood and said, "Are you telling me that you’re a bad boy and want a spanking?"

"No!" I laughed loudly. Images of John and Drew catching us and my mom and dad teasing us the next day flickered across my mind. After we dumped our trays and started wandering the mall I said, "I’ve been asking myself why I acted that way. There’s no answer."

"Could it be that you love me?" he asked.

"Acting afraid of you… and angry with you and Derrick is no way to show love though. It just rubs me the wrong way." I said, then smiled and quickly added, "Don’t say it!"

"Aw, come on," Prez said softly, "I want to rub you the right way."

"You’re so bad!"

"Thank you," he said proudly with a wide smirk.

Walking towards us was a guy that looked remarkably like Doug. Remembering something, I yelled, "Shit!" Then I turned to Prez and said, "I forgot to call Doug and Brian."

"Our plans changed anyway," Prez said. "We can call them tomorrow before work and see if Monday’s cool."

Remarkably, I couldn’t get him angry with me and he had every right to be. If the situation were reversed, I think I would’ve been a least a little forceful.

It’s all about trust, I thought as we wandered around The Warehouse looking at CD’s. Prez is the jealous type. He let me know that at Big Bear our first weekend together. But he trusted me and Mike and Derrick. There was absolutely no reason in the world for me to mistrust Prez.

In B. Dalton’s, I wondered what happened between Mike and Derrick. Did one of them get jealous? Who were they jealous with – Prez or me? Prez found a book titled, "The Gay Agenda". After reading a few pages he told me it seemed like a good one and he went to the cashier’s desk.

Browsing through the videos and new DVD’s at Suncoast gave me a reason to change my train of thought. I couldn’t wait to get a DVD player! They were finally coming down in price and more DVD’s were coming out every month. Prez walked up to me and pulled me over where he was looking.

He pointed at the rack and said, "Tom and Huck, on sale, nine ninety-five."

I nodded and said, "That was a good flick."

"JTT and Brad Renfro covered in mud?" Prez said and sighed.

I remembered the scene in a flash and giggled at my boyfriend. Only a gay teenager would care about that scene! I wondered how many boys have read Tom Sawyer and fantasized about being with them on the small sandbar and running around naked. I know I sure did!

Grabbing the video I headed towards the cashier.

"Let me," Prez said.

I insisted, "No, I can handle it."

Prez muttered, "Lets see, first we’ll go to Hawaii, make a quick stop in Singapore for a few days, over towards India, at least a week in St. Petersburg…"

Uncontrollable laughter overwhelmed me as I paid for the video and Prez took me on an imaginary world tour.

We walked out into the main mall and I laughed at Prez as he listed every major city in Europe and the United States. Finally it dawned on me and I stopped laughing but grinned evilly at my sexy boyfriend.

Noticing that I’d stopped laughing, Prez asked, "What? Is there something special about Denver?"

I wrapped an arm around his shoulder and led him through the mall and back out to the car as fast as I could. As soon as we were outside I said, "I think I figured it out."

"Figured what out?" Prez asked anxiously.

"Why I freaked." I said and explained, "It’s all those late night talks we had. All those times you told me what you want and like and dream about." Excitedly I said, "It was the video that opened my eyes! You like the mud scene, you fag!" and laughed hysterically.

He looked at me like I was insane, fueling my laughter.

Letting go of Prez, I unlocked the passenger side door and walked around to the driver’s side, all the while chuckling. Prez got in the car and unlocked the door on the driver’s side for me. I got in and turned to him saying, "I’ve never seen you guy watching. I know you like Mike and especially Derrick but never have I seen your head turn for a cute guy. Seeing you kiss Derrick was like, wow, you’re gay!"

"Of course I’m gay!" Prez laughed.

"I knew that but didn’t accept the jealous feelings. Now I now they’re all right."

"They are, to an extent," Prez agreed. Then he said, "But if you had gotten up and started fighting, it would’ve been horrible."

"The thought never crossed my mind, honest," I said, then leaned over to kiss him. In seconds we were breathing heavy. Finally, we rested and leaned against each other, forehead to forehead. "I’m ready to head home."

Prez looked at his watch and said, "We can go and come back."

I started the car and headed for home feeling like a two ton weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

Prez said, "By the way, I see lots of cute guys. I just don’t wrench my neck looking."

"And you say I’m sneaky. Wait till I get you home."

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